“So, you like reading about cowboys?”
“Sometimes. And sometimes it’s billionaires. Sometimes it’s small-town romances.”
“Who knew there were so many different kinds of romance?”
Wynter reached for a book and flipped it over to the back. “Me.” She answered the question even though it was clearly rhetorical. The book she held was one she’d read in eBook form and had enjoyed, but she wasn’t sure Grams had read it yet.
Marcus moved in closer, his body heat wrapping around her, and her heart skipped a beat. He read the title over her shoulder. “Her Second Chance Cowboy.” A low hum rumbled from his chest, and goosebumps rose on her arms as he read aloud. “As the eldest son of the wealthy Miller family, Ben Miller is content with helping his brothers run their family’s ranch in Montana. Well… mostly content. There’s a certain something missing from his life, and he’s done a good job denying it for the past decade. Untilsherolled back into town…”
Wynter glanced over her shoulder, and her eyes locked with his. Something flashed in those beautiful dark eyes that threatened to knock her off her feet.
Then he whispered, “Sounds familiar.”
That had to be the most loaded statement on the planet. Flustered, she put the book back on the shelf. “To be fair, the love interests were high school sweethearts. And she came back to town after struggling to make it on her own. So…”
He chuckled, low and sensual. The sound made her feel trapped, but in the most delicious way. They weren’t even touching, and she felt like she’d caught on fire. Maybe she should take off her coat. Maybe she should put some distancebetween them. All she’d have to do was lean back and they’d be flush against one another.
Wynter closed her eyes when she felt the whisper of his fingertips brushing the hair from her shoulder. Her breath caught in her throat as she waited for what might come next. The logical thing to do would be to pull away, and yet she couldn’t bring herself to do that.
“Wynter! Hey!”
She jumped, and her eyes flew wide as Rose Taylor came into view. “Rose! How are you?” At her side was a man she wasn’t familiar with. They both wore smiles, and their eyes flicked to Marcus at Wynter’s back. But then the cowboy who hovered there stepped away.
The loss of closeness to him hit her square in the chest. She liked the warmth he’d offered. But she couldn’t think about that right now.
“Doing good.” Rose’s eyes flicked to Marcus then back. “Wynter, this is my friend Emerson McKenzie. He helps us out at our ranch occasionally.”
Emerson rolled his eyes. “That’s a nice way of saying that I’m not quite a freeloader.”
Wynter blinked, unsure of what to say. Were they involved?
Rose elbowed the man in the ribs. “You’renota freeloader. You do alotto help out.”
“Yeah, like mowing the lawn and chasing off vermin.” Emerson winked at Wynter. “They really should be forcing me to do more. I get room and board, and they?—”
Rose waved a hand through the air. “Anyway, what are you getting? Anything good?”
“Grams needs some new reading material. I thought I’d take a look at some of the cowboy romances. I told you how much she likes those.”
“Definitely.” Rose glanced up at Marcus expectantly.
Wynter jumped and gestured toward Marcus. “You remember Marcus. His truck is a four-wheel drive, so he offered to help me run my errands today.”
Rose seemed to ignore the last part of her statement and grinned wickedly at Marcus again. “And you? Are you interested in cowboy romances?”
Marcus’s eyes slid to Wynter. “I guess I’d be interested in what’s called friends to lovers.”
Wynter’s mouth dropped open with a gasp. The smug look on Marcus’s face was all it took for her to connect the dots. Marcus knew his genres. He’d been toying with her. She whacked him playfully. “I can’tbelieveyou.”
Rose watched their interaction with interest, and Wynter blushed when she noticed the sly smile that tugged at her friend’s lips. Even Emerson seemed to catch on that there was something brewing. He probably thought the two of them were dating with the way Marcus was acting.
Emerson was the first to speak up. “You two should come to the Christmas event being hosted at the country club on the other side of town this weekend. It’s semiformal. There will be music, dancing—of course—and food. No children allowed, though. Just for the adults.”
“Oh, they’re not—” Rose started to say, but Wynter cut her off.
“We’d love to.”
The way Rose’s eyes rounded would have been hilarious if Wynter didn’t have Marcus at her back. She didn’t know how the man was going to react to the invitation, but she’d been unwilling to risk it. If she was only going to be in town for a couple of months, she was going to make the best of it.
